Harnessing the Power of Grassroots Football
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THE LONDON FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION HARNESSING THE POWER OF GRASSROOTS FOOTBALL StrategY 2020 - 2025 London FA Harnessing the Power of Grassroots Football 1 CONTENTS 1 Foreword from the Chair 3 2 Foreword from the CEO 4 3 Introduction 5 4 London FA Strategy 2020-2025 6 5 Headline goals, objectives and tactics 7 a Safer environments for people to thrive 8 b Lead the growth of structured football in London 10 c Develop a workforce as diverse as the city itself 12 d Improve the business, to better serve our members 14 6 Measures and targets framework 16 7 Introduction to the London FA Board 17 8 London FA – what we did in 2018-19 22 9 References 23 London FA Harnessing the Power of Grassroots Football / Contents The challenges currently facing grassroots football, which is all football that is non-professional and non-elite, are well documented. People are migrating to shorter, more bite-sized forms of football, particularly in London, and this is having an impact on our traditional 11-a-side leagues. The importance of embedding the right safeguarding standards has quite rightly increased but we are largely reliant on a voluntary workforce to deliver these and many other standards. And whilst there is plenty of money at the elite end of the game, local clubs and leagues at a grassroots and community level are struggling financially. These challenges should be of concern not just to those people who care about 1. ForeworD football but to everyone. Local clubs and leagues do far more than just provide safe and enjoyable footballing experiences. They improve the physical and mental health FROM THE CHAIR of people in the local community, create employment and personal development opportunities for all and bring diverse groups together like no other sport can. The When I was appointed in 2019, I was clear that the volunteers running grassroots football are the unsung heroes of our sport. London FA needed a bold new ambition – to not just govern but serve the game, become better connected This new strategy is not about the elite few; it’s about the many whose lives have been and will be transformed by football. This is the start of an incredibly exciting journey with our members and truly lead the development of for the London FA and I do hope you will join us. grassroots football in our capital city. James Middlehurst Chair – London Football Association London FA Harnessing the Power of Grassroots Football / Foreword 3 Our vision is to harness the power of grassroots football to enrich more lives in London. As a player, coach and team manager myself I know first-hand the difference that this great sport has made to my life. At London FA we are passionately committed to ensuring that many more people in London have this opportunity. Focusing on the wider benefits that football can bring represents a very significant change for this organisation - from an administrative body that governs and regulates to one that goes much further than this, seeking to promote, develop and recognise more widely the positive impact that football has on this great city and its local communities. We believe this will help to ensure that grassroots football in London 2. ForeworD FROM THE is safe, enjoyable and thriving again. To do this we must change our mindset and culture. We are no longer an organisation that only sets and enforces rules, we are CHIEF EXECUTIVE here to serve grassroots football and meet the needs and expectations of the whole football community. I feel enormously proud and privileged to introduce the Working with our volunteers, members, football clubs, leagues, local authorities and London Football Association’s new strategy: harnessing many other non-football organisations in London, we have set out an ambitious but the power of grassroots football. This strategy sets out our deliverable plan. This document will take you through each of the four headline goals vision and plans over the next five years, marking a major that we have set ourselves over the next five years, as well as the specific objectives change in the way the organisation will work. and actions we have identified to turn these goals into reality. We are indebted to all those people who have helped us develop this strategy and are looking forward to working with you all to make it happen. Let’s get started. Paul Bickerton Chief Executive Officer London Football Association London FA Harnessing the Power of Grassroots Football / Foreword 4 3. INTRODUCTION Responding to new challenges and opportunities At the heart of this strategy is the need for the London FA to adapt to changing societal and economic changes in our wider society, changes that are affecting how people spend their leisure time. The sport and physical activity sector overall is experiencing a shift in which people are moving from more organised team sports to shorter individualised activities and pastimes, in keeping with their busier lifestyles. The latest Active Lives survey shows that over the past year, the number of people participating in team sports has declined from 3.4m to 3.1m, whereas the number of people taking part in fitness activities has grown from 13.2m to 13.4m.1 Government policy in relation to sport and physical activity has also changed. In December 2015, the Government published Sporting Future: A New Strategy for an Active Nation.2 This was followed by Sport England’s strategy and the FA’s strategy, both published in 2016, and then the London Mayor’s strategy for sport and physical activity, launched in December 2018. All these plans have set out a different direction for sport policy, looking beyond simple participation to how sport changes lives and becomes a force for social good. The London FA’s new strategy - harnessing the power of grassroots football – aligns itself directly to these societal, economic and government policy changes. It ensures that as an organisation we start to recognise the impact that our wonderful network of clubs, leagues, volunteers, referees, coaches and administrators have already had on people’s lives in London and seeks to maximise this impact by supporting, collaborating with and developing this network further. The outcome of this will be a stronger, more sustainable and modernised grassroots football infrastructure in London and this is what we, at London FA, are all about. London FA Harnessing the Power of Grassroots Football / Introduction 5 4. LonDon FA StrategY 2020 – 2025 Harnessing the power of grassroots football to enrich more lives in London VISION To govern, safeguard and develop the grassroots game to ensure the best and most welcoming football experiences for all across the capital Mission oals 1 2 3 4 G Safer environments Lead the growth of structured Develop a workforce that is Improve the business, to for people to thrive football in London as diverse as the city itself better serve our members ES U Leadership, Collaboration, Professionalism, Integrity, & Performance Val London FA Harnessing the Power of Grassroots Football / London FA Strategy 6 5. HEADLINE goals AND OBJECTIVES 1.1 1.2 1.3 SAFER ENVIRONMENTS Embed safeguarding into Increase safeguarding awareness Faster and more robust processing for PEOPLE to THRIVE all of London FA’s work across the London football network of poor on-pitch discipline LEAD THE growth 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 OF STRUCTURED Halt the decline in the Double the number of Drive growth across Provide more opportunities for football IN LONDON male affiliated game female players by 2025 the recreational game specific under-represented groups DEVelop A worKforCE 3.1 3.2 3.3 that IS AS DIVERSE AS More active and More active and More active and THE CITY ITSELF diverse coaches diverse referees diverse administrators IMPROVE THE 4.1 4.2 BUsiness, to BETTER More engaged and Improved management of our finances, SERVE OUR MEMBERS satisfied members to re-invest back into the game London FA Harnessing the Power of Grassroots Football / Goals and Objectives 7 A. SAFER ENVIRONMENTS for PEOPLE to THRIVE The context: As the governing body for football in London, it is our duty to ensure that all The volume of investigations in London has increased substantially recently, from 476 football played across the capital is a safe, enjoyable and positive experience for cases in the 2017-18 season to 626 last season (2018-19)7. If we are going to serve our the many children, young people and adults who regularly play, watch, coach, clubs and leagues better, it is vital that we administrate discipline issues faster, more referee and volunteer. efficiently and more robustly, focusing on developing a workforce that can respond to these changing demands. In 2018 the Football Association introduced the Safeguarding Operating Standard for County Football Associations (amongst several other reforms3). This sets out 71 specific standards that a County FA should have in place before it can be declared fit for purpose, monitored at regular intervals by independent external assessors. In November 2018 and March 2019 London FA passed this assessment with 100% of the standards being met. Alongside this assessment the London FA commissioned a significant piece of research into young people’s attitudes and perceptions of football in London4. The findings from this research was reviewed alongside Sport England’s young people research5 and several other documents such as the NSPCC’s 2016 Strategy: 5 goals to make 5 million children safer6. This review made clear that in order to drive up safeguarding standards across the game, awareness and visibility of good safeguarding procedures is key. Crucially, identifying and then reporting any safeguarding concerns is a collective duty, not just the responsibility of a smaller number of specialist safeguarding experts.